Thoughts on a Tuesday Night

Here I sit wishing I had picture in picture in picture in picture. Or at a least a DVR capable of taping 3 shows while I watch a fourth. Man did we pick the wrong time to take the second DVR back.

So I can no longer watch the Canada-Germany qualification game. Thankfully Canada was up 4-1 when the DVR kicked on it's second taping, making me miss the third period. And I can always check the score online since NBC deems it necessary to relegate all hockey games of the Olympics to MSNBC or CNBC. Really NBC? Come on.

Speaking of Olympics, I also had to miss watching the women's skicross. Man is that sport insane. What is lacking in your life to make you choose this as your sport? I don't know, but I hope I never find out. To top it off Canada won the gold and I didn't get to see it!!

It's all worth it though since Lost is taping and we all know my obsession with Lost.

However, spending my time watching American Idol whilst waiting for Mark to maybe be home in time to watch Lost has brought some thoughts to my mind. Will you let me share them with you?

1) Leggings and all forms of the "pant" - I'm talking to you jeggings - need to die, and do it quickly and quietly.

2) Didn't we already have a rebirth of 80's fashion a few years ago? Were the contestants not told about this? Or are they hoping to somehow keep it alive? While I am a larger than life fan of 80's music, the fashion should never be reproduced.

3) Idol should NEVER be watched live.

4) Once Idol hits the voting stage, why are there judges? It's not like they make a difference anyway. Unless they give them that judges save card again this season.

5) Randy should really be the judge that gets replaced. I'm not sure his comments contain enough nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc., to make up a proper, understandable sentence.

6) Kara reminds me of my friend and that's all I can think about when I see her.

7) Why people insist on singing songs by "Divas" and legends is beyond me. If you were as good as Whitney, Mariah, Madonna, Heart...would you be on Idol?

and lastly (and having absolutely nothing to do with Idol or Fox);

8) INXS is still my all-time favourite band. I don't listen to a lot of music these days and when I do, it's usually in the car for a short period of time. Lately I have come across a lot of INXS being played and it just reminds me of how good they were and how good they still are (minus lead singer issues). People might want to label them as an 80's band because that's when they had their big success, but take a listen. Those songs are timeless. It could be released today and would still be a hit. The two INXS concerts I saw while Michael Hutchence was alive were amazing. Anyway, if you're not too familiar with INXS, do yourself a favour and check out some of their songs, videos, concert footage...you won't be disappointed. For those of you who are familiar with them, do yourself a favour and revisit some songs. They just make you feel good!

My Two Cents

Google Reader.

Do you use it? I do and I am having mixed feelings about it. While it makes blog surfing extraordinarily easy, it makes me feel lazy. I used to leave comments most of the time I visited friends blogs, now...it's rare. All thanks to Google Reader. Is it really that hard to click and be taken to the actual blog so that I can leave a comment? No. Do I? Not usually. While it surely makes it handy for checking blogs, I no longer have to devote more than a minute or so to see what's new as opposed to clicking through every public blog I read. I know the sole purpose of blogging is not to have comments left, but as a blogger, don't you like getting comments? I know I do. It's not the only reason I blog, but I think there is a part of everyone who posts that wants to see comments, no matter what their blog topic is for that day.

So tell me, does Google Reader make it easier or harder for you to comment? Do you only comment when it's a really important blog, earth shattering news or whenever it strikes your fancy? What is the proper blog comment etiquette, do we have to leave a comment at every post we read to let that person know we were there?

I should definitely comment more... so to those whose blogs I read, I do read them I promise, and I will try and be better about leaving comments, even if you don't want me to!!

Who Are You?

What is the deal with all of the anonymous comments lately? They're not even from random people commenting on my rants, raves or ramblings. They're from crazy, unknown people trying to direct people to scary, cyber sites where who knows wait awaits them, or some other devious scheme.

Never mind the excitement it brings to see that someone has left a comment only to have the bubble burst to see it's just a cyber crazy. Oh well, I guess it's just part of this blogging world, isn't it? Even our blogs get junk mail. So now on top of the thousands of credit card applications, airline reward program applications, insurance companies trying to get me to switch...I now have blog junk mail. I'm thinking I'm going to strike it rich due to my vast Nigerian connections.

Are You Guilty?

Here's a fun article I read on cnn.com;

"Facebook, for better or worse, is like being at a big party with all your friends, family, acquaintances and co-workers.

There are lots of fun, interesting people you're happy to talk to when they stroll up. Then there are the other people, the ones who make you cringe when you see them coming. This article is about those people.

Sure, Facebook can be a great tool for keeping up with folks who are important to you. Take the status update, the 160-character message that users post in response to the question, "What's on your mind?" An artful, witty or newsy status update is a pleasure -- a real-time, tiny window into a friend's life.

But far more posts read like navel-gazing diary entries, or worse, spam. A recent study categorized 40 percent of Twitter tweets as "pointless babble," and it wouldn't be surprising if updates on Facebook, still a fast-growing social network, break down in a similar way.

Combine dull status updates with shameless self-promoters, "friend-padders" and that friend of a friend who sends you quizzes every day, and Facebook becomes a daily reminder of why some people can get on your nerves.

Here are 12 of the most annoying types of Facebook users:

The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore. "I'm waking up." "I had Wheaties for breakfast." "I'm bored at work." "I'm stuck in traffic." You're kidding! How fascinating! No moment is too mundane for some people to broadcast unsolicited to the world. Just because you have 432 Facebook friends doesn't mean we all want to know when you're waiting for the bus.

The Self-Promoter. OK, so we've probably all posted at least once about some achievement. And sure, maybe your friends really do want to read the fascinating article you wrote about beet farming. But when almost EVERY update is a link to your blog, your poetry reading, your 10k results or your art show, you sound like a bragger or a self-centered careerist.

The Friend-Padder. The average Facebook user has 120 friends on the site. Schmoozers and social butterflies -- you know, the ones who make lifelong pals on the subway -- might reasonably have 300 or 400. But 1,000 "friends?" Unless you're George Clooney or just won the lottery, no one has that many. That's just showing off.

The Town Crier. "Michael Jackson is dead!!!" You heard it from me first! Me, and the 213,000 other people who all saw it on TMZ. These Matt Drudge wannabes are the reason many of us learn of breaking news not from TV or news sites but from online social networks. In their rush to trumpet the news, these people also spread rumors, half-truths and innuendo. No, Jeff Goldblum did not plunge to his death from a New Zealand cliff.

The TMIer. "Brad is heading to Walgreens to buy something for these pesky hemorrhoids." Boundaries of privacy and decorum don't seem to exist for these too-much-information updaters, who unabashedly offer up details about their sex lives, marital troubles and bodily functions. Thanks for sharing.

The Bad Grammarian. "So sad about Fara Fauset but Im so gladd its friday yippe". Yes, I know the punctuation rules are different in the digital world. And, no, no one likes a spelling-Nazi schoolmarm. But you sound like a moron.

The Sympathy-Baiter. "Barbara is feeling sad today." "Man, am I glad that's over." "Jim could really use some good news about now." Like anglers hunting for fish, these sad sacks cast out their hooks -- baited with vague tales of woe -- in the hopes of landing concerned responses. Genuine bad news is one thing, but these manipulative posts are just pleas for attention.

The Lurker. The Peeping Toms of Facebook, these voyeurs are too cautious, or maybe too lazy, to update their status or write on your wall. But once in a while, you'll be talking to them and they'll mention something you posted, so you know they're on your page, hiding in the shadows. It's just a little creepy.

The Crank. These curmudgeons, like the trolls who spew hate in blog comments, never met something they couldn't complain about. "Carl isn't really that impressed with idiots who don't realize how idiotic they are." [Actual status update.] Keep spreading the love.

The Paparazzo. Ever visit your Facebook page and discover that someone's posted a photo of you from last weekend's party -- a photo you didn't authorize and haven't even seen? You'd really rather not have to explain to your mom why you were leering like a drunken hyena and French-kissing a bottle of Jagermeister.

The Maddening Obscurist. "If not now then when?" "You'll see..." "Grist for the mill." "John is, small world." "Dave thought he was immune, but no. No, he is not." [Actual status updates, all.] Sorry, but you're not being mysterious -- just nonsensical.

The Chronic Inviter. "Support my cause. Sign my petition. Play Mafia Wars with me. Which 'Star Trek' character are you? Here are the 'Top 5 cars I have personally owned.' Here are '25 Things About Me.' Here's a drink. What drink are you? We're related! I took the 'What President Are You?' quiz and found out I'm Millard Fillmore! What president are you?"

You probably mean well, but stop. Just stop. I don't care what president I am -- can't we simply be friends? Now excuse me while I go post the link to this story on my Facebook page.

Choose Your Own Adventure

As the news was on in the background last night, they were doing a story on gene testing for Alzheimer's and whether or not people would want to know their risk.

The average American has a 15% chance that they will develop Alzheimer's by age 85, but there are those people who are at a higher risk, especially if someone in your family has suffered from the disease. There is a gene called APOE, and if you carry this gene, your odds increase that you to will develop Alzheimer's. 1 in 4 people carry one APOE gene, making them 3 times as likely to develop the disease; those who carry two copies of the gene are 10 times as likely.

Most of the people who went through the testing did not have a negative reaction to their results. A few of those tested had a family member who was suffering, or who had suffered, with the disease. If it's in your family, you probably figure you have a greater risk of developing it yourself, but would you want to know just how much greater the odds were? What would you do if you found out you were 10 times as likely to suffer from it? Would you begin a journal (a la The Notebook) to remind yourself and to let others know the past? Would you change the way you lived?

What if they could tell you your odds of other diseases (cancer, tumours, brain disease, MS, etc.,) would you find out? If breast cancer was in your family, ladies would you take preemptive strikes to lessen your chances (like Christina Applegate)?

Or would you choose not to know and live out your life as it comes?

Mark once said that it would be dumb to not find out the gender of a child since the technology is there, likening it to finding out if a tumour was cancerous or not. You would never not use the technology available to save your health....so would you try to see into the future, even if the outcome wasn't a guarantee? Alzheimer's is in my family...it's not fun, but I don't know if I would want to know my risk level. I guess a part of me assumes there is a good chance I could journey down the road with it, but I think I just want to leave it as an assumption.

What about you?

Missed Opportunities

So snapfish has a great deal on right now...well only until the end of today (the 10th). 50 prints for 50 pennies. Awesome! I needed to print out some pictures for my grandma anyway, might as well take advantage of the deal, right?

I upload my pictures, place my order and think to myself, "Even with shipping that was cheaper than going to the photo place! Way to go self!!"

Then tonight as I am talking to my Mom and was going to mention the deal to her, I realized I paid a lot more than 50 cents plus shipping. Perhaps I missed the deal and it ended yesterday (until the 10th). To make myself feel better I went to the website, and sure enough there was the deal all big and bright right in my face. So why didn't I get the deal price??

Oh...I forgot to type in the coupon code at checkout. Idiot.

So, if any of you need photos printed and see this before midnight (in your timezone), check it out!! Just don't forget to type in the promo code or you'll be joining me at, what my friend used to call the table in math class for kids who needed some help, the idiot table.

Stealy Dan

Don't people have better things to do with their time other than try to fraudulently tap into my paypal/bank account and steal money from me? What's the deal?

I guess they think I won't notice some odd withdrawal, from a man with an obviously made-up name, for hundreds of Euros. Wrong!

And so now I have nothing better to do than spend time online and on the phone making sure this person (probably from Nigeria - scam central or so I have heard) doesn't take my money. Keep trying buddy, there isn't a whole lot to take!

At least I can be happy that they tried to take it from the closed account and not the open account account! I would like to say thank you to paypal for noticing this apparent fraud and putting a hold on my account as to ensure the validity/invalidity of this purchase.

Usually when I see an ad about identity fraud and such, I don't pay much attention, but seeing as this is the third time someone has tried to infiltrate a bank account/credit card maybe I should...thankfully only one of those times resulted in lost money that our bank happily refunded to us. How someone can figure out how to withdraw money from your account, using an ATM, when both of your ATM cards are on your physical beings, I will never know.
So be careful out there kids, pay attention to your online purchases, accounts, credit/debit cards...you never know when, where or how it might happen!
Oh and to any fraudulent blogstalkers out there...STOP TRYING TO STEAL MY MONEY!!

Am I Too PC?

Alright bloggers I need your help.

If I was to get a laptop (and I want one) convince me why I should get a Mac or a PC. I am not that computer tech savvy, so to me it makes no difference. I don't need one for anything specific. I am not a graphic design nut, or a gaming freak; I use the computer for Internet travels, blogging, uploading pictures...typical stuff.
Share with me why you love/hate your PC or Mac. I'm not one to follow ship just because... so tell me why I should. What's the major differences between the two? Does one do my dishes? Can I program my DVR from one? Will Paul Walker personally deliver it to my door? Or is it just personal preference? Dell does have some cool looking notebook options, and that touch screen HP looks awesome (but a bit pricey for what I want a laptop for)...so dish! See if you can persuade me to your side!

Can I Really Go on?

Is life worth living without you?

Please come back soon....we need you...even though Comcast is stupid and their new boxes apparently don't work with my brand of TV (lame-O) so I have to wait for them to find an old model, and if they can't....well, I might just have to switch to a dish and I don't know if I am ready to go there again.

Here I Go Again

I know I already posted a pet peeve, but I guess today is just ripe for them!

So I am sitting on the couch letting T take a nap and we (okay, really just me) are channel surfing. I stop on Oprah, now let me preface this by saying that generally I am not an Oprah fan, but I usually check and see what her topic du jour is.

Today I see it is about Internet predators. Kind of skeezy, but an ever seemingly increasing problem. I decide to check it out...I didn't last long.

I can handle watching shows like Law & Order SVU, and other police/murder/dark tales type shows, but I turned the channel on this one pretty quickly. I will admit some of the things they mentioned were pretty hard to listen to, but it was not the reason I turned the channel.

The first reason I turned the channel was because of a "how to" book that has been written by predators on how to do these sorts of things. The fact the book exists is not why I turned the channel, but it was due to the fact that Ms Winfrey proceeded to read the entire brochure like document out loud, step-by-step (with the kindness of censoring for the at home audience, but the in home audience got the uncensored version).

The second reason I turned the channel was after I had gone back to the show to see what they had moved on to only to discover that Ms Winfrey was now talking to a man from Wyoming whose job was to find predators. Okay fine, however they then proceeded to share with the audience a video of which the at home audience was spared from viewing it due to the nature of it. BUT the man did describe what everyone was looking at...so you got to picture things for yourself.

These two reasons together form my third reason for being highly bothered by this show. I know the intention was to bring to bring to light the severity of Internet predators and just what is out there, but do we really need to see blurred out photos of infants and toddlers? I am guessing the audience did not see the blurred images.

I will preface my next thought with this - I did not watch the show in it's entirety, so perhaps I missed something that was done that would contradict my feelings, but I didn't get that impression from the parts of the show I did see. I am all for stopping Internet predators, but does such detail about how people commit these crimes have to be given? Ms Winfrey READ (word for word) a how-to guide on how to get started in child pornography...I mean really? Granted pedophiles know this, but do we have to make the details known on such a mainstream level?

These thoughts were echoed as I watched Primetime tonight discussing some thread of unsuccessful terrorist plots. They did say nothing they would be showing was new to terrorists, but what about those would-be terrorists, or the really curious kid who might be on the brink? Do we need to delve into how shoe bombs are made, or why I can't bring that bottle of pop through security anymore?

Please, inform people of the scary things that exist in this world so that we can be informed and aware and do our best to protect ourselves and the ones we love, but can we limit the amount of information shared so that not everyone and their dog knows how to hide their computer stash of child porn or how to convince your 3 year old that it's okay to do those things? I think we'd all be a little better off without knowing.

Can You Hear Me NOW??

Ok, so I was tired of seeing "Fatty Fat Fat" everytime I logged into this blog of ours, and since our internet and phone have been out at home for the last 3 days - there hasn't been a lot of time for new entries!! It's a cop-out to post a Tag for an update, but I'm at work early, and it's the easiest thing to do! I'll get back to random rants when we have power at home!
Ok, here we go

*What is his full name?
Mark Eric Smith - although on our first trip to my parents house after getting married, we had to fill out our customs forms or something, and as he was filling his out I glanced over and saw him write "Mark Erik Smith" - I thought "oh no! I've been spelling his name wrong!!" until I saw him stop, look at his name, look at me and say "that's not how I spell my middle name!"

*How long have you been married?
7 years in August

*How long did you date?
Longer than some, shorter than others!!

*Who eats more sweets?
I try not to keep sweets in the house for this exact reason - we'll eat them!! Depends on the sweet, if it is peanut M&M's I will have them devoured in a matter of seconds. If it's Red Vines (gag) I will never touch them and Mark will inhale them. We're probably pretty even on the sweets thing...but I am going to point my finger slightly more at Mark on this one.

*Who said I love you first?
I believe Mark did. While we were sitting on my roommate's couch which oddly enough is now our spare couch.

*How old is he?
29, but during summer months he ages rapidly to the ripe old age of 83 as he mows his lawn, and feeds his birds.

*Who is taller?
Am I wearing heels? Mark is taller but only by a couple of inches.

*Who is smarter?
Working on campus has its advantages...when Mark first asked me out, I had access to student records where I worked, so of course I looked him up. I like to tease him that I did better in Math than he did!! But we both have our smart areas... anything finance, business related I whole heartedly give it to Mark (not that I am stupid with it, I could just care less) but regarding all matters that don't matter...it's all me! And University Math of course! :o)

*Who can sing better?
Neither of us. If a gun was put to my head and I had to choose, I would pick me, but only by a hair.

*Who does the laundry?
However I answer this will stir up contention, but I will try to be as honest as I can. It goes back and forth. When we first moved to NYC, it was all Mark because I was not going to the laundromat in the neighbourhood we lived in. So Mark would hike down and do the laundry and I would put it all away. When we moved to RI and I was still unemployed, I did it. Even after getting a job in NYC, I would do more laundry than he would. In our apartment in MN, before I got my job, it was me, but now that we are in the house...it's Mark. I'll do it if it needs to be done...but that comes down to "do I have any underwear left?"

*Who pays the bills?
That would be me. Mr. Finance man doesn't touch them.

*Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Both sides of our current bed are wrong. The new bed comes this weekend (yay!!), I'll let you know then.

*Who mows the lawn?
Mark. I am banned from lawnmowing. OK, so it is a self-imposed ban, but after the mowing incident at my parents, my Dad told me to never mow again, so I haven't.

*Who cooks dinner?
Usually Papa John does and under 30 minutes!! Ok, not true, but he is on our short list of Smith household chefs. I make most dinner, but Mark will cook once or twice a week.

*Who is more stubborn?
Does that even need an answer? I'm pretty sure anyone reading this knows who is more stubborn out of the two of us. But just in case someone doesn't, it's me. No need to try and deny, it is a God given talent of mine, and you know what they say about talents...don't waste them!! So it is always in good use. :o)

*Who asked who out?
Mark asked me...well it was more of a "hey, I have some time off next week, do you want to do something?" I was more impressed with the fact that he didn't even bother to ask me for my phone number...but he called. That showed me his determintation, well that or his criminal abilities to track me down.

*Who has more siblings?
Mark has 6, I have 3.

*Who wears the pants?
We both do. Even if you hear otherwise!!

I now tag Lisa (haha!).

Viral Infection

So apparently our computer has become the host to a plethora of viral infections....or so my lovely spyware keeps popping up and telling me. Unfortunately everytime I try to run the programs to remove them, the computer freezes, shuts down, or sits there blankly, like it has no idea what to do. How does one become infected so suddenly? One minute I am checking my email and/or facebook....hours later I come back and the screen is a deathly black and red with warnings all over it. Quite strange. Technology...how did we ever live with out it?

Until it is fixed we're not going to do too much from the home computer because you never know what may be lurking... but in the meantime I will leave you with this tidbit of advice: BROWSIE IS BACK!!! Sunday, November 4th, CBS, around the world again here we go....SO excited!! Melissa - make sure you watch and we can discuss all the teams - there is going to be some great clashes, attitudes and complaining this season. Can't wait!!! Oh Phil, how I love you.

Au Revoir for now... hopefully we'll be back up in full throttle soon! Enjoy the weekend - I know I am going to!

Still Waiting

No internet/phone/cable hook up yet, but I am just tired of seeing that Calgon picture every time I open this blog! So I figured if I am sick of it, the people who visit the page must be sick of it too!! With no TV, people might have worried that we missed Britney's big moment, but dance your fears away, worries for another day - we caught it online! (Fraggle Rock spotlight there). It was a mess. Seriously though... who wouldn't have been nervous knowing the entire world (those who care anyway) was watching to see if she would fall flat on her face or re-ignite her lagging career? I was nervous for her!! I think the album will be a hit though, if it is all like the first single Gimme More... classic Britney. I am big enough to admit that I like the new song. If I was still in my club/dancing days, I would bust a move to it. Thankfully I'm not, so no one needs to see that. Dance grooves, lip sync-able, machine assisted... all the ingredients for massive hits. We needn't worry - Britney will be back on the airwaves before you know it.. whether you like it or not!
Anyway, on to something else...we're all done the painting - even if there is a spot somewhere, it will remain a spot. The paints, brushes and rollers have been cleaned and put away for the last time! We both think the rooms look good, but maybe we're biased. When we get our internet connection running and the camera recharged and can find the cable to download pictures - I will post some! We still have tons of boxes to put away, and the dishwasher is waiting ever so patiently to be installed, but it should be done Thursday. I have hopes that all of the boxes will be put away by the end of the weekend, but I am afriad that college football will get in the way of that ever happening. One good thing about no tv is that since there is no tv to watch, you have to do something!! And it makes going to bed by 10:00 so much easier (no, it's not because we're super old, it's because we get up at 5:15 AM to get to work by 7:00!). Early mornings are hard, but I have to say I like leaving work at 4:00.

I had a rousing conversation with a co-worker this morning about LOST. He is not a LOST watcher, but I think I may have converted him!! It got me super excited for the new season, but then made me sad since it won't start until late January or early February. At least there won't be any repeats in between episodes! Any one have any good new TV shows they are looking forward to this fall? I am hearing pretty darn good things about Pushing Daisies, so I might have to give that one a try. So many reasons to love Fall!! :o)
Any shows you're looking forward to? Any new thoughts/theories on LOST?

Technical Difficulties

So apparently, I am not as tech savvy as I thought! I tried to upload one of those nice picture slideshow things to the page, but it posted it is a blog item, not one of the "on the side" items!! So I tried to delete the blog... let's just say there is no slide show on the page anymore! Maybe when I have more patience to figure it out I will give it a second attempt!